Milestones in history

The University of Leipzig significantly contributed to the development of Leipzig itself. It was founded on 2 December 1409 with professors coming mainly from Prague, and, today, is the second-oldest University to boast uninterrupted provision of education in Germany, after the Ruprechts-Karls University in Heidelberg (founded in 1385).

Its fantastic reputation is reflected in the fact that around 50 Nobel laureates have worked, taught or published their works here, including Theodor Mommsen, Wilhelm Ostwald and Werner Heisenberg, who received the Nobel prize for Physics in 1932. In addition, important figures such as Johann Wolfgang Goethe, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, Friedrich Nietzsche, Richard Wagner and the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, all studied here. Today, the University of Leipzig boasts over 150 institutes and faculties, which are home to almost 30,000 students.

1409 - Foundation of the University of Leipzig by dons and scholars from Prague

1544 - The Dominican Monastery is handed over as "Collegium Paulinium" by Duke Moritz of Saxony

1897 - Reconstruction of the University building in Augustusplatz

1906 - Women were permitted to study in Leipzig for the first time

1946 - Reopening of the University after the 2nd World War in the former film theatre, Capitol

1968 - The intact University Church, St. Pauli, is blown up by Walter Ulbricht